At least five cities are interested in establishing new CRAs to add to the list. They are: Deltona Edgewater New Smyrna Beach Orange City Ormond Beach

The County Council — hit with stiff opposition from cities in the days after the major CRA funding changes were floated earlier this month — decided to hold off on voting them into reality.

For 60 days, anyway, during which time the council hopes to meet with the cities and try to find common ground.

"I think there's a lot of misinformation on both sides," said Councilman Josh Wagner, who proposed the 60-day time-out — but also stressed the county must scale back the money it contributes to CRAs. "My concern is ... in 10 years, when I'm not here, this cripples county government. It not only cripples it, it's catastrophic. So changes do have to be made."

On the council's agenda Thursday was a resolution establishing new policy on new and modified CRAs. Those CRAs — which total 15 in the county — are designed to redevelop blighted parts of a town using tax revenue that would otherwise go other places, like Volusia's general fund.

When a CRA is created, it takes a snapshot of property-tax revenue inside the boundaries and uses that as a baseline. Over the years, as property values increase, any revenue above that baseline goes back into redevelopment projects within the CRA.

The county says it can't afford to give all of that extra revenue to CRAs in the future, particularly because widespread low property values have so much room to increase in the future.

So Volusia proposed cutting back its contribution. Instead of paying all that extra revenue that's above the baseline, the county wants to account for growth that happened elsewhere in the county — CRA or no CRA.

Under that formula, the county would only consider the property-tax growth inside a CRA that's higher than the general growth everywhere else.

"I'm not looking to change that," said Councilwoman Pat Northey, who supports the new formula. "If there's a tweak out there, I'll listen to that. But I'm not going to support a CRA that gets 100 percent of general fund revenue in the CRA district. At some point, I've got to call uncle. My goal is to make sure we don't bankrupt this county."

The county is also proposing more oversight and review of CRA plans, and a 20-year limit.

But probably the biggest change coming is the formula. And sitting next to Northey, Councilman Doug Daniels defended CRAs and was sympathetic to the cities who see that formula as detrimental to the programs.

"If the cities did not object to the formula, they must not have read it," he said. "I would say the formula, in effect, kills CRAs, and kills their usefulness."

Instead, Daniels said, the county should focus more on how CRA money is spent — on real improvement projects and not other expenses that should be paid for by general fund money.

"We want to make sure that money is spent wisely on economic development," he said. "It's not a coat of paint on some old building. It's not a useless streetscape somewhere where nothing's going to happen."

There are five potential new CRAs out there in Volusia, but only one (Orange City's) has actually filed an application with the county. Councilwoman Deb Denys proposed grandfathering that CRA, if approved, so it would work under the old rules. The council didn't go for that, and it added a moratorium on new applications during its 60-day discuss-with-the-cities period.

Denys also said she understands the cities' concerns about shrinking funds. "You're doing what you have to do for your municipalities," she said. "But we're doing what we have to do for the long-term health of the county."

"We're not doing anything harmful, we're not taking your money away," County Chair Jason Davis told the mayors. "We're trying to help. It's just not to the extent of 100 percent. You have to help, too."

The mayors were hoping to speak publicly on the issue, but Davis, at Wagner's urging, cut off public participation at the end of the council's discussion. Mayors like DeLand's Bob Apgar and Deltona's John Masiarczyk headed up to the council dais, anyway, to protest the changes.

CRAs

Volusia County has 15 CRAs that have taken in about $165 million over the past decade. They are:

Daytona Beach Ballough Road

Daytona Beach Downtown

Daytona Beach Main Street

Daytona Beach Midtown

Daytona Beach South Atlantic

Daytona Beach Shores

DeLand Downtown

DeLand Spring Hill

Holly Hill

New Smyrna Beach

Ormond Beach Downtown

Ormond Beach North Mainland

Port Orange Eastport

Port Orange Town Center

South Daytona

At least five cities are interested in establishing new CRAs to add to the list. They are:

<p>Mayors and city representatives from across Volusia County drove to DeLand on Thursday to argue against a sweeping set of changes to Community Redevelopment Areas. Then they didn't say a word. </p><p>The County Council &mdash; hit with stiff opposition from cities in the days after the major CRA funding changes were floated earlier this month &mdash; decided to hold off on voting them into reality. </p><p>For 60 days, anyway, during which time the council hopes to meet with the cities and try to find common ground. </p><p>"I think there's a lot of misinformation on both sides," said Councilman Josh Wagner, who proposed the 60-day time-out &mdash; but also stressed the county must scale back the money it contributes to CRAs. "My concern is ... in 10 years, when I'm not here, this cripples county government. It not only cripples it, it's catastrophic. So changes do have to be made." </p><p>On the council's agenda Thursday was a resolution establishing new policy on new and modified CRAs. Those CRAs &mdash; which total 15 in the county &mdash; are designed to redevelop blighted parts of a town using tax revenue that would otherwise go other places, like Volusia's general fund. </p><p>When a CRA is created, it takes a snapshot of property-tax revenue inside the boundaries and uses that as a baseline. Over the years, as property values increase, any revenue above that baseline goes back into redevelopment projects within the CRA. </p><p>The county says it can't afford to give all of that extra revenue to CRAs in the future, particularly because widespread low property values have so much room to increase in the future. </p><p>So Volusia proposed cutting back its contribution. Instead of paying all that extra revenue that's above the baseline, the county wants to account for growth that happened elsewhere in the county &mdash; CRA or no CRA. </p><p>Under that formula, the county would only consider the property-tax growth inside a CRA that's higher than the general growth everywhere else. </p><p>"I'm not looking to change that," said Councilwoman Pat Northey, who supports the new formula. "If there's a tweak out there, I'll listen to that. But I'm not going to support a CRA that gets 100 percent of general fund revenue in the CRA district. At some point, I've got to call uncle. My goal is to make sure we don't bankrupt this county." </p><p>The county is also proposing more oversight and review of CRA plans, and a 20-year limit. </p><p>But probably the biggest change coming is the formula. And sitting next to Northey, Councilman Doug Daniels defended CRAs and was sympathetic to the cities who see that formula as detrimental to the programs. </p><p>"If the cities did not object to the formula, they must not have read it," he said. "I would say the formula, in effect, kills CRAs, and kills their usefulness." </p><p>Instead, Daniels said, the county should focus more on how CRA money is spent &mdash; on real improvement projects and not other expenses that should be paid for by general fund money. </p><p>"We want to make sure that money is spent wisely on economic development," he said. "It's not a coat of paint on some old building. It's not a useless streetscape somewhere where nothing's going to happen." </p><p>There are five potential new CRAs out there in Volusia, but only one (Orange City's) has actually filed an application with the county. Councilwoman Deb Denys proposed grandfathering that CRA, if approved, so it would work under the old rules. The council didn't go for that, and it added a moratorium on new applications during its 60-day discuss-with-the-cities period. </p><p>Denys also said she understands the cities' concerns about shrinking funds. "You're doing what you have to do for your municipalities," she said. "But we're doing what we have to do for the long-term health of the county." </p><p>"We're not doing anything harmful, we're not taking your money away," County Chair Jason Davis told the mayors. "We're trying to help. It's just not to the extent of 100 percent. You have to help, too." </p><p>The mayors were hoping to speak publicly on the issue, but Davis, at Wagner's urging, cut off public participation at the end of the council's discussion. Mayors like DeLand's Bob Apgar and Deltona's John Masiarczyk headed up to the council dais, anyway, to protest the changes.</p><p><b>CRAs</b></p><p>Volusia County has 15 CRAs that have taken in about $165 million over the past decade. They are: </p><p>Daytona Beach Ballough Road </p><p>Daytona Beach Downtown </p><p>Daytona Beach Main Street </p><p>Daytona Beach Midtown </p><p>Daytona Beach South Atlantic </p><p>Daytona Beach Shores </p><p>DeLand Downtown </p><p>DeLand Spring Hill </p><p>Holly Hill </p><p>New Smyrna Beach </p><p>Ormond Beach Downtown </p><p>Ormond Beach North Mainland </p><p>Port Orange Eastport </p><p>Port Orange Town Center </p><p>South Daytona </p><p>At least five cities are interested in establishing new CRAs to add to the list. They are: </p><p>Deltona </p><p>Edgewater </p><p>New Smyrna Beach </p><p>Orange City </p><p>Ormond Beach</p>